Aggie bids to be 1st female yell leader

Updated 11:01 am, Friday, February 22, 2013

Sarah Petta, a junior anthropology major at Texas A&M, is attempting to make history by running for election as a yell leader.

The yell leaders are five juniors and seniors - traditionally all men - who work up the crowd at Aggie sporting events.

This year's election is Friday, with results to be announced at 8:30 p.m. in an outdoor gathering.

Petta, who's from Corpus Christi, announced her candidacy in a YouTube video, describing herself as the "loudest, proudest, most redass member of the class of 2014."

One of the reasons she's running, she says in her video, is that her little sister idolizes her.

"She wants to come to A&M just like her big sister," said Petta, who also has a younger brother. "And when she gets here, I want her to have every opportunity available to her, and I don't want anyone to say 'No' just because she's a girl."

Two women ran unsuccessfully for yell leader last year, and Petta said in a phone conversation that she followed their campaigns but didn't get the idea for her own candidacy until last semester.

"I was complaining about the lack of diverse leadership at A&M, about not being able to see women in positions of authority," she said. "I thought, 'Well, if I see this as a problem, I really should do something about it.' "

The 12th person in her family to attend A&M, Petta said she loves the school and wants it to reflect the student body.

Petta's father, Jim Petta, said he and his wife, both A&M graduates, are pleased with their daughter's decision.

"It's great," her father said. "She's coming alongside tradition. She's not fighting tradition. She's a very traditional Aggie, if you will."

He noted that the position of yell leader is the last all-male bastion at the school which first admitted women in 1963.

"She very much wants to win," he said. "She loves A&M and wants to be a part of it."

The Aggie tradition of male yell leaders dates to 1907, according to the school. Among former yell leaders, one of the most well known is Texas Gov. Rick Perry.